Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,828, Nos. 4,938,370, 4,978,017, 5,167,335, and 5,205,426, all hereby incorporated by reference, disclose various embodiments for pilfer bands of tamper-indicating plastic closures which have proven highly resistant to tampering or the like, and which are configured to facilitate economical, high speed manufacture. Each of these pilfer band constructions includes a plurality of inwardly extending flexible projections which move to an out-of-the-way disposition during application of the closure to an associated container, with the projections thereafter moving to an orientation for engaging an annular locking ring portion of the container during closure removal to at least partially detach the closure pilfer band from an associated skirt portion of the closure.
In order to provide the desired tamper-indicating function, such closures are manufactured with a frangible connection which at least partially detachably connects the closure pilfer band to the associated skirt portion. As will be appreciated, in order to provide the desired tamper-indicating function, a closure of this type must be manufactured so that the frangible connection between the pilfer band and the skirt portion does not fail or fracture during closure manufacture, handling, or high-speed application to an associated container. At the same time, the closure should consistently and reliably fracture attendant to partial or complete closure removal.
The present invention contemplates a tamper-indicating closure construction which desirably abates premature fracture of the connection between the closure pilfer band and the associated skirt portion.